Human trafficking: Day 2

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Hit hard by poverty, many Guatemalans struggle to survive. Children often start working as soon as they are able -- with boys shining shoes in the main square in San Miguel Acatan to help provide for their families, and girls caring for younger siblings and working around the home. Many children head to the United States to be try to make more money to send back to their families.

Located in the main square in San Miguel Acatan is a landmark Catholic church. The town also has an Evangelical Christian church located nearby.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Seventy-five percent of the population in this country, many of them indigenous Mayan people, lives below the poverty line. Many young Guatemalans are without guidance because grandparents and parents are working in the United States or killed in the Civil War according to experts.

A group of boys plays video games inside a small arcade in San Miguel Acatan. Though most live in extreme poverty, there are still some small luxuries and Western influences in the secluded mountain villages.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

A Guatemalan man walks up a hill in San Miguel Acatan, surrounded by the Cuchumatanes Mountains and rusted tin roofs covering the town. People started leaving Huehuetenango during the late 1970s and early 80s when the area was in the midst of a 36-year Civil War that ended in 1996. The area is now mired in poverty with residents migrating to areas, including the United States, where they hope to make a better life.

A Guatemalan woman prays inside the Catholic Church on the main square in San Miguel Acatan. Although there are two churches serving the town, most people attending the churches still hold onto traditional Mayan rituals and beliefs, often pinning recovery from illnesses on Mayan witch doctors.

A Guatemalan woman prays inside the Catholic Church on the main square in San Miguel Acatan. Although there are two churches serving the town, most people attending the churches still hold onto traditional Mayan rituals and beliefs, often pinning recovery from illnesses on Mayan witch doctors.

Residents clean-up the streets of San Miguel Acatan following a daily street market in the town square. Most people in the area have relied on farming to make the small income they need to survive, but many now head for the United States in search of a better life.

Images from San Rafael La Indepencia, Guatemala, nestled in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Miguel Acatan are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Isabela, age 7, plays outside the family's tienda in San Rafael La Indepencia, Guatemala. Her older sister came to the United States at about age 12 to help support her family of eight by working in a Florida nursery with her father. A victim's advocate is eyeing the case for trafficking and the prospect that her father gave or sold her to a man who raped her in Lake Worth. Her father, Thomas, said he didn't realize what was happening in the home.

Images from San Rafael La Indepencia, Guatemala, nestled in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Miguel Acatan are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Rafael La Indepencia, Guatemala, nestled in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Miguel Acatan are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Rafael La Indepencia, Guatemala, nestled in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Miguel Acatan are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Photographs from San Raphael Indepencia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala with family members of one of the victims in a potential Lee County human trafficking case.

Images from Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Mirian Christina Andres, 12, holds brother, Rudy Tomas, 1, as sister Rosa Tomas Andres, 18, does laundry in a sink outside the Pascual family's home. The girls live across the street from the family in San Miguel Acatan and share the sink with the Pascuals where they wash their laundry by hand. Children in Guatemala start work at an early age and most don't see a problem with children working at a young age in the United States, where they can make more money for their families.

Ana Lopez, 10, stops for a moment while playing outside with Angelina Pascual, 9, and Maria Miguel, 5, outside the Pascual home in San Miguel Acatan. Children as young as 10 from this region are crossing the border alone, and it's not rare to find 12- and 13-year-old children traveling the Central American migrant corridor headed for the United States. Families are often happy to see their children make the trip to the United States in spite of the dangers.

Miguel Juan, 89, listens as Angelina Pascual, 72, and Juana Pascual Francisco talk about the case of a Pascual's now 15-year-old grand-daughter living in foster care in Fort Myers. Pascual's granddaughter, a victim of a possible human trafficking case in Lee County, was sold to Francisco Pascual for about $264.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Miguel Juan, 89, left, and Angelina Pascual, 72, and Juana Pascual Francisco talk about the case of a Pascual's now 15-year-old grand-daughter living in foster care in Fort Myers. Pascual's granddaughter, a victim of a possible human trafficking case in Lee County, was sold to Francisco Pascual for about $264.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hears of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Images from San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala, in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Rafael La Indepencia are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Photographs from San Raphael Indepencia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala with family members of one of the victims in a potential Lee County human trafficking case.

Images from San Rafael La Indepencia, Guatemala, nestled in Huehuetenango in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The village and nearby San Miguel Acatan are the hearts of two possible human trafficking cases of teenage girls brought to Florida.

Edna Gonzalez, right, counsels a girl in the courtyard of the Casa Alianza shelter in Guatemala City. The child advocacy group gives a safe haven and help to street kids. Unfortunately, many of the girls who come to the shelter can't acclimate to the change of life and run away.

Claudia Leticia Lazo, right, jokes with another resident as the two work in the bakery at the Casa Alianza shelter in Guatemala City. Casa Alianza teaches its residents trade skills and the girls take turns helping the staff cook and clean, work for which they get paid.

Residents in the Casa Alianza shelter in Guatemala City enjoy games with girls from Santa Teresita school, who spent the morning at the shelter. The Santa Teresita girls performed a show and spent the morning in the shelter playing games with the residents. Casa Alianza runs the shelter for street kids, teen moms, many former trafficking victims, and underage prostitutes.

Images from the Casa Alianza shelter for street kids, teen moms, many former trafficking victims, and underage prostitutes.

Images from the Casa Alianza shelter for street kids, teen moms, many former trafficking victims, and underage prostitutes.

Cesar Henriquez, left, and Claudia Rivera, center, from Casa Alianza talk with a girl in a side room of the Cats Brothel in Guatemala City. The girl's passport said she was 21, but Henriquez believed the girl was underage. The brothel raids are a joint effort by the police, immigration department, and Casa Alianza. The child advocacy center gives underage girls a safe haven from the brothels.

John DeAngelis and his wife Kelly pack aid supplies in the entryway to their Naples home in late December 2005. The couple and their three kids were leaving the following day for a two week trip to Cambodia to work with Kampuchea for Christ.

Angelina Pascual, 72, right, braids the hair of her granddaughter Maria Miguel, 5, while sitting in the doorway to their house with Miguel Juan, 89, left in San Miguel, Guatemala. Pascual's 14-year-old granddaughter is now living in foster care in Fort Myers, a victim of a possible human trafficking case in Lee County.

Mirian Cristina Andres, 12, carries a load of firewood to her home in San Miguel Acatan in the western highlands of Guatemala. Extreme poverty in the area means many children are required to work at a very young age.

Isabela Pascual holds a family photo album as daughters Angelina Pascual, 9, left, and Maria Miguel, 5, look on in the entryway of her home in San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala. Francisco Pascual, the brother of Juana Pascual Francisco, second from right, is in jail in Lee County as he awaits trial in a possible human trafficking case in Cape Coral involving Isabela Pascual's now 15-year-old daughter.

A group of boys plays basketball on a mud and rain-soaked court in the central park of San Miguel in Guatemala Sunday, July 17. The town is located in the Western highlands of Guatemala, which is nine hours from Guatemala City.

The seven-year-old sister of one of the victims a potential human trafficking case in South Florida peeks around a curtain in her home in San Rafael la Indepencia, a village located in the western highlands of Guatemala.